Lost Tooth!

Last week, Amelia lost her first tooth. A few days later she lost another! Here's a picture of her at a tea party we had (just us girls) and you can barely see the space where her tooth would be.

The night she lost the second tooth, she ran downstairs after bedtime to tell us "Jimmy said after you lose your second tooth, the tooth fairy doesn't leave money- she takes you on a trip!!!"

Little Einsteins Funny

A few months ago, I bought Jonny some new underwear. It was "Little Einsteins" themed and I was very surprised to see this:



I immediately thought of Gary's brother David who is preparing to be a missionary for The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Not because I thought he should WEAR them, but because the little boy is getting ready for a mission too. (I know, it's not the same.)

Last night, Uncle Dave got his mission call to Fort Lauderdale, FL (speaking Creole.) We are so excited and proud of Dave for making this choice. I'll not spoil the moment with some childish prank involving the underpants. (Even though I am sorely tempted.)

Called to Serve

Today my youngest brother, Uncle Dave, received his mission call to serve in the Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission. He'll be learning Haitian Creole, which is a French creole. The mission is the only one headquartered in South Florida.

Some of our relatives and a few of Dave's friends made predictions as to where he would go on his mission. You can view a map of the predictions and the beautiful part of the world where Dave will teach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ to those who are willing to learn.

I am happy for Dave and I believe this will be a life-changing experience for him, as my mission in northern Brazil was for me.

Omega 3

Some of you may know that Amelia has exzema. Some of you may even know how to spell exzema (I'm not one of them.) A friend of mine recommended omega 3 supplements to help her skin. Well, after a month of omega 3 "gummy fish" her skin looks better than it ever did on the lotions and creams prescribed to her by a dermatologist. No more red patches! Not more scabs! And no more fights about putting on lotion. Ahh. Doesn't that feel better?

Leader of the Pack

Jimmy is playing NFL flag football this fall for the Green Bay Packers. He didn't get to choose his team. If he did, he would have chosen the New England Patriots (in case the Child Services people are reading this, I promise I have taught him better).

Here is a great action shot:



Look at him go! :-) By the way, that lump in his mouth is a mouth guard. They're very serious in this league.

FYI the shirt was provided by the league, and a very clever parent suggested that we all chip in a few dollars to get matching shorts and socks. That means the Packers are not only one of the most successful teams in the league at 4-1, but also the best dressed team we have seen yet!

You can get more details about the league at http://www.novaflag.com . In case you check the scores and highlights, Jimmy's Packers are in the Mites division.

Vacation Planning

Yesterday, I got a Sunday nap!!!!!! (You can tell by the number of exclamation points it's been a few years:)

While I was napping, Gary and the kids were discussing summer vacation plans. Here's Amelia's input on vacations ( and you'll have to imagine her emphatic speech):

I don't want to go to any of those "burg" places. You know WilliamsBURG. GettysBURG. They are BORING!

Good bye Jennifer Conference

Jonny looked forward to "Jennifer Conference" (read General Conference)
for a few weeks, mostly because he knew it had to come before his birthday. Maybe he liked the talks and music. Or maybe he liked the Skittles he got everytime they said "faith."
Today, he asked Gary "Can we watch Jennifer Conference." Maybe he wanted the spiritual boost. Or maybe he wanted the sugar rush.

I think next time General Conference rolls around, he won't be saying "Jennifer Conference" anymore.

The Complete Tattletale

We're having a rip-roaring General Conference Sunday, with kids going stir-crazy. They are fairly wild, and Jimmy just approached me and Tracy with the following whiny plea:

"Amelia just stepped on my back when I was on top of Jonathan on purpose."

I attempted to deadpan the only reply I thought logical, which was, "Why were you on top of Jonathan on purpose?" Tracy cracked up and Jimmy tried to take back what he had said, and when Tracy composed herself, she asked Jimmy, "Are you trying to tell on Amelia, or are you trying to tell on yourself?" It was a pretty funny moment, and it turned out that Jimmy's back was fine (surprise!).

A Few Funny Moments

I'd had a few funny moments lately that I keep forgetting to share so here they are all wrapped into one post:

Simon's first words: Go, dog, cat, shoe, Da-da, Whoa!

Jimmy's attempt to woo his classmate Jordan: A hand written copy of the Gettysburg Address?! (here's the story: Gary went in late one night to check on the kids. Jimmy was busy hand copying the Gettysburg Address. In the morning, he told me he wanted to give it to Jordan- one of the girls from the Love Bug post. If he was older- like 30 I would give him some tips for wooing girls for real!)

During our Chasti-Tea Party, I was talking with the kids about how we shouldn't have boy friends and girlfriends until age 16 (AT LEAST), Amelia mentioned something like "but Vivian and I have fun kissing the boys on the bus." (I talked to Vivian's mom the next day- she was horrified!) Needless to say no one is having fun kissing on the kindergarten bus anymore.

During and after the Olympics, the kids were fascinated with "the famous Olympic Swimmer, Michael Phelps." (Jonny never abbreviated the title.) Jonny wanted a Michael Phelps party for his birthday (thankfully he abandoned that idea.) "Michael Phelps" was the punchline for every joke (knock knock. who's there? Michael Phelps!!!).

A few weeks ago, Jimmy was listening to an old Bon Jovi cassette he found and heard the song "Some Day I'll Be Saturday Night" He asked what it meant and I explained. ("Feelin' like a Monday, but someday I'll be Saturday night"- if you're Saturday night, it's really cool, everybody loves Saturday right?) So a few days after that conversation, he says to me "Mom, Michael Phelps IS Saturday night." Can't argue with that!

Burning Down the House

We don't usually do politics here at kiddodiddo, but the current economic situation will have such an effect on us--and our kiddodiddos--that we suggest that you watch this excellent video before you vote this November to see who in D.C. has been very very naughty. The video is entitled "Burning Down the House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis?"



This video will likely be taken down by YouTube--which is owned by Google, which has its own political bias--so here are some other links that will also probably be taken down:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiXwZI_YqHY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01BS-pG3Il0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIVvvoDbCV0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxgSubmiGt8

Also, an excellent blog post and good comments on the video and the efforts to make it go away.

The Love Bug

Tonight the PTO at Jimmy and Amelia's school held a family picnic and movie night to celebrate the installation of the new outdoor track at the school. We brought pizza and grapes and had a great time seeing friends and running around the track (the kids, not me) too many times to count.
Simon amused himself by stealing everyone's pepperoni when they weren't looking.
After the picnicking was done, we went inside to see "The Love Bug." The old one. Some of the kids attempted to sit down and watch the show. In fact they sat there and watched nicely until the popsickles and popcorn ran out. Then Jimmy wanted to go watch with his friend Caroline. So he left. After awhile, Jonny missed him and we went looking for him. There he was, near the front, sharing a blanket with Caroline. They were lying on their tummies propped up on elbows and enjoying the show. Jonny knew just what to do. He ran up and jumped between them making himself right at home. Soon Amelia came along and joined the party as well as Jordan, another friend in his class. They giggled and jostled for positions next to Jimmy. Soon they settled down again and watched for a few more minutes. Then it was time for Caroline to go. Then the fun began. Jordan told Amelia she had a crush on Jimmy. Amelia dared her to kiss Jimmy. Jonny didn't want to miss out on the fun so he shouted "I'm gonna do it. I'M gonna kiss Jimmy!" They giggled and plotted and giggled some more. They attempted to watch the movie some more. Then Jordan put her arm around Jimmy. A while later, Jimmy put his arm around Jordan. For just a second, but it counted. Jordan's mom and I had a view of the whole thing about 10 feet back. They were not as private as they thought! I watched the movie for a few minutes more. It was taking forever. Most everyone got bored and left. Not my little guys. Not Jordan. They were having too much fun. One of the other adults pulled out the movie to see how long was left: 20 more minutes. I know I heard someone say "Just shoot me now!" when they found out how long was left.
So we made it through the show. On the way out to the van, Jordan's mom said "You know the only reason it's funny is because of their age."

Yeah, I thought, a few years down the road I wouldn't be laughing. My response would be something like this:

Help control the pet population; have your pet spayed or neutered!

Summer Catch Up

I guess I'm in the mood for catching up. I spent a bit of time cleaning up photos of our trip to Utah and hope you will enjoy the results. (located in the August archive) There will be more (keep your fingers crossed) later in the week.

A Very Merry Unbirthday to you!

In 2007, I made a 2 New Year's Resolutions
1. to send each of my relatives a birthday card for his or her birthday
2. to park the van with the wheels straight EVERY TIME (I sure everyone else does this, but I had a bad habit I needed to break)

I did pretty good on my resolutions for that year. And even this year, I still park the van with the wheels straight. However, I think I have missed sending a card to everyone of my relatives. This summer (in July) I decided to make it up with what I called "birthday in July" where I would send a make up card and celebrate everyone's birthday at once. Well, it took 2 extra months to pull that one together. In the mail, each one of you precious relatives (especially those who send birthday cards ON TIME) should be receiving a card, (handmade by the kiddodiddos themselves) to celebrate you on this, your very special UNbirthday. If your birthday has already passed, sorry! And if your birthday is yet to come, happy birthday well in advance.

Cardboard Fort

Back in June the kids told me they wanted help building a cardboard fort. I have dutifully saved ALL of my cardboard boxes in the hopes of taping them together to make a decent cardboard fort with them someday. Yesterday on the way home from school, we passed by some huge sheets of cardboard on the curb waiting recycling. I went back with the van to pick them up and bring them home. Amelia and I spent some time this morning taping them together to make a fort. It's much bigger than I planned. Once the walls and roof were taped in place I declared my work was done. Jimmy and Amelia had other plans. She brought in table and chairs and they played cards. Jimmy hooked up his reading light so they could see better. Tonight, Gary and I went to check on the kids after they were asleep. I was amazed to see that Jimmy and Amelia were sleeping together with pillows and blankets and an electric fan inside the fort. Maybe I should have turned on the light and taken a picture... but really, I'd rather let them sleep.

Knock Knock Joke

Jimmy told a really funny knock knock joke. To get the full effect, you must first understand what the "Flying Falcon" ride at Hershey Park is.
Watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE05QDm2W1g

If you didn't watch the video, it's a ride where you sit in a little bird head and spin on a spoke really fast, so the seat is sideways. The spoke is also on a larger spoke and it spins around quickly, rising in the air.

Gary rode this ride with Jonathan (aka Fire Car) and Jimmy, consecutively. Poor Gary. While Jonny was waiting for Gary and Jimmy to get off, he told me "That ride was making me getting sick." Gary made a comment like once was fun but twice in a row is too much. Jimmy didn't really say much, until later.

Knock knock.
Who's there?
The interrupting Flying Falcon
The interrupting Fly-
I"M SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enough with the name changing!

Last week Amy decided to be Amelia again. I kept forgetting to call her that anyway.

Jonny is becoming pretty adament about being called "Fire." I keep telling him "NO- Fire doesn't sound anything like "Jonathan" Your name has to sound like the name we gave you." But I guess that's a little too complicated. A few months ago, he decided that his middle name was Car. His new name choice would make him Fire Car. Not exactly what I had in mind when the doctor handed me an 8 pound baby boy!

Wet Cell Phone

Last week, I put a leaky water bottle and my cell phone together in the bottom of my stroller. Guess what?! Water and cell phones do not mix. If you could please use my home phone number to keep in touch for the next week or so, I'd appreciate it!

Question of the day

Why is there a Santa hat on the plunger?

This reminds me of a poem I wrote a few years ago. It was supposed to be a haiku but I don't really know all the rules for haiku. This was my first and last attempt at poetry. It was inspired by an incident with Jimmy and is entitled Good Advice.

Never thought I'd say

Don't take bath with toilet seat

Motherhood, the joy!

Pictures from Wheeler Farm

Jacob, Amelia, Aberdeen, Cameron, Jimmy and Jonathan
front row: Cameron, Jacob, Aberdeen, Jimmy
back row: Jonathan, Nana, Simon, Pop, and Amelia
While we were in Utah visiting relatives, we did a photo shoot with all the extended family at Wheeler Farm. Here are 2 good shots that we got with our own camera. The top one is of the kids with their cousins playing red rover while we waited for the photographer to arrive. The bottom one is of the kiddodiddos with their cousins and Nana and Pop.

Hiking in Southern Utah

To kick off our Utah trip, we decided to spend a little time hiking around in Southern Utah. Here are a few photos of our time in Goblin Valley and Arches.

I think this photo was taken at the bottom of the trail to get down to the valley floor. Isn't Gary so cute, carrying Simon in the snugli? Amelia thought so... she shoved a baby doll down her shirt, so as not to be left out of the baby wearing fun. (too cute!) Here's me and Jonny wandering around among the goblins, looking for the rest of the family. I had the brilliant idea to play hide and seek. It was really fun, until everyone was hid and I realized just how many places there were to hide. So I will call that part of the adventure "scary fun."

There were lots of peek holes among the goblins. Look below to see the view from this particular portal. I called it "kissing goblins." Jonny loves to have his picture taken, so he ran down to be photographed again.

Jimmy and Amelia and Jonny attempted to cool off in the shade of this overhanging rock.It was hot and we didn't bring much water (OOPS!) so we didn't stay too long. :(

We drove from Goblin Valley to Moab, spent the night and rose early to start the hike to the Delicate Arch.

We set off with plenty of water and smiles on our faces. That was due in part to the kid's excitement over the gumball machine they believed waited at the end of the trail. Delicate Arches are nice and all, but do they really compare to gumball machines in the mind of a 2 year old? We gave the kids pennies along the way to reward for good hiking. "You can put them in the gumball machine at the Delicate Arch." They were so in to the idea, they spent the last quarter mile deciding who should go first at the gumball machine and how they should line up. When we reached out destination, I attempted to pull the gumball machine from our backpack and place it behind a rock. I was not sneaky enough... Amelia caught me in the act. Jimmy, Amelia, and Jonathan enjoyed their break at the end of the trail and didn't seem too disappointed with my little trick. Below are a few photos from along the way.

Here we are at one of our first water breaks. There was another photo where everyone was looking, but Jimmy's smile in this one is so heartwarming, I had to use it.

Here we are at the Delicate Arch! This is where the trail ends. You can go on some sloped slick rock to go under the Arch, but Jimmy and I opted to stay at this point to photograph the others. Notice Amelia, Gary and I are twins... how fun to have a girl who wants us to match! I am always amazed at her attention to detail. She has a real appreciation for beauty and noticed many wonderful things along the trail.

Jimmy, Amelia, and Jonny really liked the gumball machine. Simon doesn't know why everyone else is so happy, he just likes to be happy too.

If you look carefully, you can see Gary (yellow shirt) under the Delicate Arch! Amelia and Jonny are there too, but you'll just have to imagine you can see them.

Due to some gastric distress, we ended up hiking back in two parties and I want to give Amelia a big thumbs up for carrying the water. She was my hero and I was proud of the maturity she showed. The hike was an amazing experience and time of bonding for everyone.